John Doyle: Rewucki, Middleton put best foot forward

Friday

Sep 21, 2012 at 3:15 AM

Considering what Cam Rewucki did to help get the Dover High School football team into last year's Division II championship game, it's hardly a surprise that the confidence he gained from that one moment spilled over into this year.

Rewucki kicked a 29-yard field goal as time expired to lift Dover to a 24-21 win over Spaulding in the D-II semifinals. Last Friday night against Spaulding, Rewucki was 4 for 4 on extra points. The 33-yard field goal he kicked in the Green Wave's 31-10 win lacked the drama of his kick against Spaulding in last year's playoffs, but it sailed through the uprights in identical fashion — straight and true.

"I've tried to keep the same confidence that I had when I kicked that ball," said Rewucki. "I added a couple yards to my kicks over the winter. I'm definitely kicking it harder. It has more pop in it."

Rewucki, a senior who also punts for the Green Wave, isn't the only high school kicker in Dover having a solid season. Down the road at St. Thomas Aquinas, Hayden Middleton is as reliable as the come. On Saturday in a 47-15 rout of Laconia, Middleton was 5 for 5 on PATs and hit field goals of 35 and 32 yards. He spent a good portion of Thursday's practice wowing teammates with kicks from more than 40 yards out.

"I just try not to let the nerves get to me," Middleton said. "I just block everything out. My teammates and coaches have confidence in me. It nice to hear them cheer for the kicks at practice."

Rare is a high-school team that can count on a consistent kicking game, and even rarer is a high school game decided on a last-minute field goal. Both Rewucki and Middleton have added another dimension to their respective teams' offensive confidence.

"We don't have to worry about the kicking game being sloppy, because we know he's going to be there," St. Thomas coach Eric Cumba said about Middleton. "Every kick, he'll do what he has to do. (You) know you're getting points inside the 30 no matter what."

Dover coach Ken Osbon said Rewucki used his big kick in the playoffs as a springboard for an intensive off-season training regimen, one that has shown results through three games this season.

"The best thing he did was he got into the weight room and got stronger overall," Osbon said. "He's getting much more leg in his kicks. He got some success last year and that was impressive. He just carried that over into the winter and he's gotten a lot stronger."

The St. Thomas players clearly get a kick out of watching Middleton hit field goals from long distance in practice. Cumba said he'll often put Middleton in a situation where the junior kicker can get his teammates out of doing extra conditioning — if he can hit a field goal from a certain distance. Needless to say, his teammates are appreciative when Middleton delivers.

"But at some point, that leg's going to have to win us a football game," Cumba said. "I have all the trust in the world in him to do that."

It remains to be seen if either St. Thomas or Dover will have a game this season decided by a late kick. But if either does, high school football fans in Dover will be better off for it.

Rewucki said he wouldn't mind if he was called upon again to make another big kick to seal a win for the Green Wave.

"If there's another shot at a kick like that, I just have to do the same thing I did," he said. "I just have to make it."

John Doyle is a staff sports writer and Sunday Sports Editor for Foster's Daily Democrat. He can be reached at jdoyle@fosters.com. Follow him on Twitter @JohnDoyle603.

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